Anti-Korean Wave and Far-Right Wing Nationalism in Japan
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ANTI-KOREAN WAVE AND FAR-RIGHT WING NATIONALISM IN JAPAN UGNĖ MIKALAJŪNAITĖ S1208292 BACHELOR THESIS LEIDEN UNIVERSITY BA INTERNATIONAL STUDIES WORD COUNT: 12.327 (with bibliography) THESIS SUPERVISOR: NAM-HEE HAN THESIS GROUP LEADER: DAAN KOK DATE: 2015 05 29 0 CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1: Hallyu and Nationalism in Japan ............................................................................................ 5 Emergence of Korean Wave in East Asia and Japan ............................................................................ 5 Emergence of Anti-Korean Wave in Japan ........................................................................................... 7 Far-Right Wing Nationalism in Japan (Uyoku Dantai) ...................................................................... 10 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Manga Kenkanryu (2005) ..................................................................................................... 13 Manga Genre in Japan......................................................................................................................... 13 Manga Kenkanryu ............................................................................................................................... 14 Response to the Manga ....................................................................................................................... 17 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Zaitoku-kai (2006 – Present) ................................................................................................. 19 Historical Context ............................................................................................................................... 19 Zaitoku-kai and Anti-Korean Wave .................................................................................................... 20 Zaitoku-kai and Manga Kenkanryu .................................................................................................... 21 “Gangnam Style” (2012) and Zaitoku-kai.......................................................................................... 23 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 26 Bibliography............................................................................................................................................ 28 Appendices .............................................................................................................................................. 30 Appendix 1: Korean Wave .................................................................................................................. 30 Appendix 2: Manga Kenkanryu .......................................................................................................... 31 Appendix 3: Google Trends ................................................................................................................ 34 1 INTRODUCTION The past two decades have seen the birth and the rapid rise of a new pop culture phenomenon called the Korean Wave, or in the local environment – Hallyu. The scholars and media have quickly picked up on this topic and have been analysing it from a variety of angles and disciplines. However, the majority of international discussion stays within the positive factors of the Korean Wave, whereas the study on the resistance from certain states barely scratches the surface. Despite the Japanese and Korean scholars having discussed the topic in much more detail, it is does not seem to be as popular among the English sources. Consequently, the topic of the anti-Korean Wave movement in East Asia, and particularly in Japan, should be analysed in more specifically and further connected to a broader topic of far-right wing nationalism, which plays a significant role in this debate. The anti-Hallyu1 movement is one of the topics within the wider field of Hallyu and Korean culture studies. It is has not been scholarly examined as much as the positive factors of Korean Wave, especially not globally. Two features can be distinguished in order to explain the relevance of the anti- Korean Wave movements to the field of Hallyu Studies. The first one is the fact that the majority of writing on anti-Hallyu focuses a lot on separate case studies, and spends much time explaining the events, the actors and their actions. However, there is a visible lack of more in-depth study using various theories and historical-political context. The examples may help to characterise the facade of the movements, but definitely not the particulars of the anti-Hallyu sentiment, which play a noteworthy role in the Japan-Korea relationship through the continuously shifting perception of the Korean popular culture products by the Japanese nationals. Second factor has to do with the notion that the discussion of Hallyu is simply not complete without discussing the negative response. If the Korean Wave is sometimes perceived as cultural imperialism or soft power of South Korea, it should be clear that there will be some resistance. Therefore, the anti-Hallyu movement has to be discussed simply to complete the picture of Hallyu studies. As a result, this topic is not only relevant within the boundaries of the field of study, but also within a wider context of power shifts and bilateral power relations. Besides the importance to the wider question of Korean Wave and cultural industries, the discussion on the anti-Korean Wave sentiments also holds significance to a general audience. First of all, the situation in Japan may in some way illustrate the current relationship between South Korea and Japan, which has been one of love and hate for more than a century. Furthermore, the bilateral tension, due to the popular 1 Terms Hallyu and Korean Wave, which mean the same thing, will be used interchangeably throughout the thesis 2 culture, is just another illustration of the trans-border issues. Surely, in both nations not everyone is involved in the disputes, yet the actors in activities might be of quite much interest for the general populace. Secondly, the fact that there is a backlash towards the cultural industries of South Korea means that it is on the rise and becoming more powerful. This shift in the regional importance from Japan to South Korea is an interesting case for the changing East Asian area and the global environment. The Korean Wave is not only sweeping the Asian region, but also reaching the shores of Europe and the United States of America. Furthermore, it, getting attacked mainly from Japan, once again says a lot about the relationship between these countries, and also provides a perspective towards power and superiority in the region. In conclusion, the topic of anti-Korean Wave movement in Japan might be of importance not only for those interested in the power shifts in the region, but also those wanting to understand the relationship between East Asian countries and their perception towards each other. The thesis will delve into several factors of the anti-Korean Wave movement in Japan. First of all, the reason for discussing this topic is that the majority of available analysis on the Korean popular culture in English mainly touches upon the positive sides of it, the improvement of South Korea’s image abroad. The negative parts and the backlash have been for the most part forgotten by English-speaking researchers and journalists. Furthermore, the Japanese case is arguably unique, as the anti-Hallyu movement only became truly visible in this country through protests and online discussions. In other countries, though anti-Hallyu sentiments are apparent, no real demonstrations have taken part. Or there is no information obtainable about such happenings in English sources. Another aim of the thesis is to connect the anti-Korean Wave movement to the anti-Korea sentiments, which can be proved to overlap in many senses; this will be argued by using several examples and case studies. The structure of the thesis will be as follows. The first chapter will act as a theoretical framework and a concise literature review, where concept definitions will be given for the phenomenon of the Korean Wave, anti-Korean Wave and also the far-right wing nationalism, which connects the nationalistic male population of Japan to the issue of anti-Korean Wave. The concepts will be based upon a previously done analysis by English-speaking researchers, as the Korean and Japanese sources, though much more abundant, are not comprehensible to the author of this paper. The second chapter will consist wholly of an analysis of a suitable example that illustrates both the anti-Korean Wave and anti-Korea movements. This case study is a manga called Manga Kenkanryu that was released in 2005. An instance of manga was chosen not only because its contents are relevant for the topic, but also it is one of the most popular 3 and easily attainable literary products in